In the first half of 2014, emissions of ammonia nitrogen and chemical oxygen demand (a measure of organic pollutants in water) dropped by 2.3 percent and 2.7 percent respectively, China's Ministry of Environmental Protection reported Wednesday, adding that the overall target for the whole of 2014 was a 2-percent cut in water pollution across the nation.

In recent years, Beijing has allocated vast resources to curb the aftermath of decades of neglect with respect to protecting the environment and keeping pollution levels at a manageable level.

The government announcement came amid reports of plans to launch a special action plan geared towards cleaning up rivers and lakes.

No time to waste

The state-owned China Securities Journal said the government was readying a 2 trillion-yuan ($326-billion, 253 billion-euro) plan to fight water pollution, with a special focus on cleaning up waste water deemed so dirty that it is not even fit for industrial use.

Some regions in the north of China have always been short of water anyway, and with the added stress of widespread pollution, experts see major threats to food production and energy generation there.

Beijing has already started a $63-billion project to transfer water from the southern and central parts of the country to the capital and other regions short of water.

hg/cjc (Reuters, MEP homepage)